What To Do When It’s Never Happened Before

Have you gotten to the point that you don’t care about setting goals anymore because you continue to miss the deadline; or set one but don’t really expect to achieve it because it’s not the first time you have set that particular goal?

It’s a tricky feeling of indifference that can arise when you set an intention time and time again only to not have it happen. The attitude that spawns from these past failures or lack of results is one which leads you to start believing that there’s no reason to go for a certain result because it never happened before. It’s a common belief but here is one way to switch your thinking and eliminate this belief…

The Learning Experience

When there is a result in life that you have always wanted but you seem to always fall short of obtaining that result, doubt will surely begin knocking at the door. Telling you to quit having hope for any evidence of your desired results. If doubt claims victory over you, it becomes harder to set the same goal with any self assurance because your mind will be filled with the thought that you never could do it before, so it won’t be able to be done now.

You may have missed goals, but to combat this thought cycle to happen, understand that the past can be used as a learning experience. Instead of looking at the past as evidence of never being able to succeed, look at it as the experiences you had to learn from. The steps you’ve taken that needs course correction.

Learning from your past experiences can allow you to figure out what you need to do to actually obtain your goal. Look at what could be improved and make the necessary corrections and get back on course.

Never Attempted, Never Been Done

Whether it’s your personal life or it’s the day and age we are living in, just because something has never happened before doesn’t mean it can’t happen. It just mean that it may have never been attempted or that not enough effort and persistence have been given.

In your personal life, if you have a big goal but too easily get discouraged to actually go for your goal because you have never had anything so big be achieved before, then recognize that you may have simply never attempted it before. Not that it can’t happen, just that a real effort has never been made.

There is no rational reason for you to believe in this thought of never being done before if you have never attempted it before. To use this reason for not going for a bigger goal is just an excuse. It’s a cover for what you’re actually feeling, fear. The fear of not knowing the steps needed, the risks, the possibilities of your goal being reached. Seeing that you have never done it before, you have no past references to lean on to give you confidence that your goal can be reached. Step out and go for your goal. As you take action, remember to use every result you receive on the road to your goal— from what we just talked—as a learning experience.

The same principle goes for something that has never been done before in our society. It may just mean that nobody has really attempted to do it; or if attempted, they were not persistent in the pursuit of the goal. There is opportunity for the person who, despite history up to now, is willing to dream outside of the box and give their all to achieve something that has never been done before.

What if there were people who have tried in the past but failed? Maybe they lacked the necessary resources or information to achieve the results. The people who have pushed the envelope despite past failures and lack of results are the people who use the historic references as learning experiences. Just like in your personal life, the lives of others could be used as data to study and get a better understanding of how to refine their efforts so you can succeed.

So next time you find yourself thinking of using the excuse that it never happened before, remember that you can switch this thought and use it as a learning experience. A trial and error until you come across the way for you to obtain your big goal.